In re B.M. CA2/5

I. BACKGROUND

In December 2020, the Department filed a dependency petition alleging then-newborn B.M. was a dependent child under Welfare and Institutions Code section 300 because of her parents’ history of domestic abuse and her mother’s substance abuse.1 During the initial dependency court proceedings, Father informed the Department and the juvenile court that his grandmother (B.M.’s paternal great grandmother) Amanda M. (Amanda) was a member of the Cherokee tribe.2 Mother denied having any Indian

1 Undesignated statutory references that follow are to the Welfare and Institutions Code. 2 We discuss only Father’s claim of possible Cherokee ancestry in this opinion because there is no argument on appeal that the Department or the juvenile court committed ICWA- related error in any other respect.

3 ancestry. The trial court ordered the Department to investigate whether B.M. is or may be an Indian child. Father referred the Department to his father K.M., Sr. (Senior) as a potential source of additional information about any Indian heritage. Senior told the Department that his mother Amanda was a registered member of the Cherokee tribe and provided her date of birth and date of…